Action from week 7 in La Liga: Barcelona stumble, Real Madrid held at home, Atletico go on top
Barcelona fell 4-3 to Celta Vigo when they visited the Estadio Balaidos on Sunday, marking their second loss of the season.
Luis Enrique surprised many by not electing to use the likes of Andres Iniesta, Ivan Raktic, and Javier Mascherano in the starting line up. Instead, he opted for Andre Gomes, Rafinha and Jeremy Mathieu, who are not regular starters for Catalonian outfits.
Those changes failed to pay off as the home side, similarly from last season encounter, took a shocking three goal lead in the first half.
Goals came through summer signing Pione Sisto in 22nd minute, Iago Aspas in 31st, and Mathieu’s own goal in 33rd.
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Second half saw Iniesta coming on for Rafinha and immediately having an impact as he set up Gerard Pique’s goal in 58th minute.
Then in 63rd minute, Hugo Mallo’s clumsy challenge on Gomes was penalized and Neymar took it calmly to cut the lead to just one.
However, a horrific mistake from Marc Andre ter Stegen in 77th minute ended Barcelona’s attempts on making a come back. The German keeper’s pass to Jordi Alba was bounced off of Pablo Hernandez’s head and instead went into the net, making the scoreline 4-2 in the favor of Galician club.
Pique scored another header late into the game, but in the end it was not enough as Barcelona were stunned again by Celta.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid got a yet another draw as they failed to beat Eibar at home.
Visitors took a surprise lead when Ander Capa’s cross was met by Fran Rico in the sixth minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo then ran down the left wing and put in a beautiful cross for Gareth Bale, who nodded home to make it a tied game in the 17th minute.
Marco Asensio and Alvaro Morata were put in the second half to break down the opposition’s defense but failed to do so as the game finished 1-1.
Atletico Madrid took the first place in the standings for the first time this season after they defeated struggling Valencia in Mestalla.
Recently appointed Valencia coach Cesare Prandelli watched from the stands as caretaker boss Voro Gonzalez Marco managed his last match for Los Che.
Atletico came out with an attacking 4-3-3 formation and were given a golden opportunity to take the lead when Angel Correa was fouled by Nani in the 18 yard box. However, Antoine Griezmann’s penalty was saved by Diego Alves.
Grizmann would get his name on the scoring sheet though, as he fired the ball from close range to give his side the lead in 63rd minute.
Another penalty was given in the favor of Atletico in 69th minute. This time, captain Gabi Fernandez stepped up to take the spot kick but was again denied by the impressive Alves. With that save, he has now saved more than half the penalties he has faced in his career.
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Kevin Gameiro would eventually wrapped up the win in 93rd minute after he beautifully controlled Juanfran’s clearance and dribbled past Aderlan Santos to put the ball in the back of the net.
In other matches, Sevilla defeated Alaves 2-1 at home to move up to third place on the table. Wissam Ben Yedder scored twice for the Andalusians while Victor Laguardia got his name on the scoresheet for the away side.
Villarreal will remain in fifth place after failing to score past Espanyol in a dull 0-0 game in Estadi Cornellà-El Prat. Fran Escriba’s tactics will come into question after he put out a more defensive 4-2-3-1 formation rather than the usual 4-4-2 for the Yellow Submarines.